Dhoni finds himself at centre of controversy

New Delhi/Nagpur: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday found himself at the centre of a controversy after the disclosure that the Cricket Board President N Srinivasan had overruled an unanimous decision of national selectors to sack him from captaincy.

All the five national selectors had decided to sack Dhoni in January this year, but BCCI President Srinivasan had intervened and disapproved the decision, according to one of the then selectors Mohinder Amarnath.

Dhoni, who is Nagpur for the fourth and final Test against England starting Thursday, did not appear to bothered by the controversy.

In India, "every Tom, Dick and Harry have an opinion about the game", he said, adding, "when people appreciate me a lot, I don't feel as if I am in seventh heaven. And It's the same when people criticise me. We (Indians) have extreme opinions".

"We praise and then start pulling the same individuals down. I would say it's very important to be in the middle path because that's how you will enjoy the sport," he insisted.

Dhoni said that in the Indian cricket setup, everything was under the microscope and questions are asked for every decision you take.

"If you are part of the Indian cricket set up everything is under the microscope and everybody has an opinion. You can ask plenty of questions on why that guy was not picked and why this guy was not given the new ball. It's a team sport. It's getting very critical," he said.

Dhoni continued to come under attack from former selector Amarnath, who said that the proposal to change the skipper after the disastrous tours of England and Australia was made in the larger interest of Indian cricket.

"It was an unanimous decision, all five selectors supported it. The Board President (Srinivasan) did not approve the unanimous decision to replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni," Amarnath said.